Depeche Mode, Willie Nelson Aim For O-town

NEW TIX

August 13, 1993|By Jim Abbott of The Sentinel Staff

Tickets will go on sale Saturday for a concert by English techno-pop band Depeche Mode Oct. 5 at the Orlando Arena.

After forming in 1980, the band (whose name is French for ''fast fashion'') amassed a cult audience before earning wider recognition with ''Enjoy the Silence'' from its 1990 Violator album. On its new Songs of Faith and Devotion release, singer Dave Gahan and his band have added more guitars and orchestration to their synthesized sound.

Opening the 7:30 p.m. show will be London post-punk outfit The The, touring behind its Dusk album. Tickets are $23.50 and $27.50.

Tickets will go on sale Monday for a show by Willie Nelson and Family Sept. 28 at the UCF Arena in Orlando. Nelson is back on the concert road after his scrape with the Internal Revenue Service and a brief foray into TV advertising (as pitchman for a chain of taco restaurants). If the idea of Nelson singing about Mexican food is enough to give longtime fans indigestion, his new Across the Borderline album casts him in a better light. Produced by Don Was, the disc features such guest performers as Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan and Sinead O'Connor. Tickets for the 8 p.m. Orlando concert range from $15.50 to $25.50.

The acclaimed James Cotton Blues Band will be the closing act at the third annual Sarasota Blues Festival Sept. 5 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. Also scheduled to perform: slide-guitar prodigy Derek Trucks, Ted Hawley & House of Trouble, Jacksonville's Dr. Hector and the Groove Injectors, the Blynders with Richy Kicklighter, Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band Double Threat, the Poulos Ramsey Band, the Chris Anderson All-Star Band and Pine Top Perkins with Dan Electro & the Silvertones. Tickets are $10 advance and will be $15 day of show with age 11 and under admitted free. Gates will open at 10 a.m. with the music to run from noon to 9 p.m.

In the clubs: Singer Schascle - already set to perform at 9:30 p.m. today and Saturday at the Junk Yard in Casselberry - has added a Sunday show at the Club in downtown Orlando. Tickets for the Club show will be $5 at the door with the music to run from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission also includes an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Kiss tribute band Rock 'n' Roll Over will play an 8 p.m. show Aug. 21 at Club Dimension in Orlando's Sports Dimension bar. Tickets will be $5 at the door.

Road warrior Pat Travers will team with Elektra recording act Blackfish for an 8 p.m. show Sept. 3 at Club Dimension. Tickets are $8 advance and will be $10 day of show.

Eclectic polka/world music hybrid Brave Combo will do its thing Aug. 21 at Yab Yum's Go Lounge Garage in downtown Orlando. Tickets for the 10 p.m. show will be $5 at the door.

In addition, Brave Combo will perform on a bill with Beausoleil at 8 p.m. next Friday at El Pasaje Plaza in Tampa's Ybor City. Tickets are $12 advance and will be $15 day of show.

Alternative band Vision - soon to release its Just Short of Living album on New Jersey-based Criminal Records - will team with Philadelphia's Dandelion for an 8 p.m. show Tuesday at Club Nowhere in Orlando. Dandelion is hitting the clubs behind its new I Think I'm Going to Get Sick release. Also on the bill: Central Florida's Overleaf, Shyster and Of. Tickets will be $5 at the door.

Johnny's Rockin' Bistro in Casselberry will host Sound of Thinking, Swarmface and the Fifth Column at 9 tonight. Admission: $3 at the door.

The aforementioned Swarmface will team with Bug Head for a Club Spacefish party Sunday at Barbarella in downtown Orlando. Tickets will be $4 at the door with the music to start at 9:30 p.m.

The triple bill of Big Monster Blunt, Disco Biscuit and Marilyn Manson will hit the Station in Fern Park for a 9 p.m. concert Aug. 27. Tickets will be $3 at the door.

The Implications and the Rattlers will headline an Original Music All-Star Night Sept. 4 at the Junk Yard in Casselberry. Tickets: $3 at the door. Show time: 9 p.m.

Veteran bandleader Ross Raphael and his 14-piece Villa Nova Orchestra will be joined by former Wayne King vocalist Nancy Evans for an evening of big-band dance music Sept. 26 at the Puff 'n Stuff Ballroom in Winter Park. Tickets - $16 - are available by calling (407) 872-3637. The show will run from 7 to 10:30 p.m.

Wacky comedian Lenny Schultz - known to his followers as ''The Rubber Chicken King'' - will yuk it up at 8 and 10:30 p.m. today and Saturday at Hilarities in Orlando's International Station. Tickets are $10. For reservations, call (407) 363-1920.

Another wacky comedian will hit Central Florida as Carrot Top and his six travel trunks of props take the stage Thursday and next Friday at the Comedy Zone on Orlando's International Drive. Tickets - $12.50 - are available at Ticketmaster outlets or by calling the club at (407) 351-3500. Show times: 8 and 10:15 both nights.